"sisters are Yioda and Melanie. While he was in his early teens, the family moved to Radlett. There, Michael attended Bushey Meads School in Bushey, where he befriended his future Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley. The two had the same career ambition of being musicians. Michael busked on the London Underground, performing songs such as ""'39"" by Queen. His involvement in the music business began with his working as a DJ, playing at clubs and local schools around Bushey, Stanmore, and Watford. This was followed by the formation of a short-lived ska band called The Executive, with Ridgeley, Ridgeley's brother Paul,"
"from Ridgeley, ""Son of Albert"", in 1990. After poor sales, CBS declined the option of a second album. On 25 June 1988, George Michael's 25th birthday, Michael played the third of three dates at Birmingham's NEC as part of the Faith World Tour. He appeared deeply moved when he was surprised on stage by many members of his family with Andrew Ridgeley, who was pushing a trolley carrying a huge birthday cake. They led the 13,000-strong crowd in a rendition of ""Happy Birthday"" before Ridgeley accompanied Michael in a performance of ""I'm Your Man"". In January 1991, Ridgeley joined Michael"
"first album. Michael died from heart and liver disease at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire on Christmas Day 2016. He was 53. Wham! Wham! were an English pop duo consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, formed in London in 1981. Influenced by funk and soul music and presenting themselves as disaffected youth, Wham's 1983 debut album ""Fantastic"" addressed the United Kingdom's unemployment problem for young people and teen angst over adulthood. Their second studio album ""Make It Big"" in 1984 was a worldwide pop smash hit, charting number one in both the UK and the United States. The singles"
"Wham! Wham! were an English pop duo consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, formed in London in 1981. Influenced by funk and soul music and presenting themselves as disaffected youth, Wham's 1983 debut album ""Fantastic"" addressed the United Kingdom's unemployment problem for young people and teen angst over adulthood. Their second studio album ""Make It Big"" in 1984 was a worldwide pop smash hit, charting number one in both the UK and the United States. The singles from the album — ""Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"", ""Everything She Wants"" and ""Careless Whisper"" — all topped the Billboard Hot"
"to receive quite such a beating over that album."" Ridgeley lives near Wadebridge, Cornwall, England, in a restored 15th-century farm property that he shared with former partner Keren Woodward, a member of the group Bananarama. The couple split in November 2017. Andrew Ridgeley Andrew John Ridgeley (born 26 January 1963) is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work in the 1980s as a member of the musical duo Wham! Ridgeley was born in Windlesham, Surrey, England. His parents are Jennifer John (née Dunlop) and Alberto Mario Zacharia (who later changed his surname to"
"Andrew Ridgeley Andrew John Ridgeley (born 26 January 1963) is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work in the 1980s as a member of the musical duo Wham! Ridgeley was born in Windlesham, Surrey, England. His parents are Jennifer John (née Dunlop) and Alberto Mario Zacharia (who later changed his surname to Ridgeley); his mother is Scottish and his father is of Italian and Egyptian descent. Ridgeley grew up in Bushey, Hertfordshire, and attended Bushey Meads School. His mother was a schoolteacher at Bushey Heath Primary School and his father worked for Canon."
"with their song ""Sometimes"" reaching number two in the autumn; this success would be followed by many more hits throughout the decade. After four successful years, the band Wham! split up in the spring. Made up of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, they finished with a farewell concert at Wembley Stadium, a greatest hits album ""The Final"" which reached number 2, and the single ""The Edge of Heaven"", their fourth and final number 1. George Michael also reached number 1 this year with a solo release, ""A Different Corner"", and went on to have a highly successful solo career. The"
"Michael and Andrew Ridgeley; incredibly, this was accepted as fact by many people. In addition to releasing 5 singles and a compilation EP, Big Flame also recorded four sessions for the John Peel Show. Big Flame were a major influence on Manic Street Preachers. In a 1991 interview, Richie Edwards stated ""The 80s, for us, was the biggest non-event ever, like C86. All we had was Big Flame. Big Flame was the most perfect band. But we couldn't play their records 'cos they were too avant garde"". The group also operated beyond the confines of the band itself. Keeffe and"
"Ridgeley the introduction and chorus melody to ""Last Christmas"", which Ridgeley later called ""a moment of wonder"". The song was recorded in August 1984, at Advision Studios, London, England. George Michael had written, performed, produced and played every single instrument on the track. With a Linn 9000 drum machine, a Roland Juno-60 synth and sleigh bells, they began recording the song in the summer. The only person who was in the studio was engineer Chris Porter and two assistants. According to Porter, lyrically ""you’ve got the happiness of the rhythm track, but against that you’ve got the sadness of the"
"When George Michael was enrolled at the school, Ridgeley volunteered to take him under his wing. After years of playing in various music groups, the most notable being the Executive, Michael and Ridgeley formed Wham. They then approached various record labels with a homemade tape (which took 10 minutes to record in Ridgeley's living room) and signed with Innervision Records. The band left Innervision after the first album and signed with CBS. Wham enjoyed worldwide success from 1981 to 1986, selling more than 28 million records worldwide. Wham made their US debut appearance on Dick Clark's ""American Bandstand"" and became"
"With Michael keen to move into a more adult market, Wham broke up after a farewell concert entitled ""The Final"" in front of 72,000 people at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 28 June 1986. On 27 January 1991, Ridgeley joined Michael on stage for a few songs at the encore of his performance at the Rock in Rio event at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Since 1991, Ridgeley has generally shunned the limelight, but he did agree to give an interview on camera for a 2005 documentary, ""A Different Story"", about the life of George Michael. Ridgeley also appeared"
"were the duo Wham! with an unusual mix of disco, soul, ballads and even rap, who had eleven top ten hits in the UK, six of them number ones, between 1982 and 1986. George Michael released his debut solo album, ""Faith"" in 1987, and would go on to have seven UK number one singles. The 1985 concert Live Aid held at Wembley Stadium would see some of the biggest British artists of the era perform, with Queen stealing the show. Bonnie Tyler had major hits with ""Total Eclipse of the Heart"" and ""Holding Out for a Hero"", while Robert Palmer's"
"seconds of ""Young Guns (Go for It!)"". The track listing of the first edition of the CD and the original cassette tape feature three bonus tracks interspersed within the original track listing, consisting of instrumental remixes. This track listing was again used for the 1998 reissue of the CD. Adapted from AllMusic. Michael and Ridgeley embarked on a UK tour to promote the album in October 1983, opening at Aberdeen's Capitol Theatre, before going on to dates in Scotland, England and Wales ending in November at the Centre in Brighton. Fantastic (Wham! album) Fantastic is the debut studio album by"
"George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and philanthropist who rose to fame as a member of the music duo Wham! and later embarked on a solo career. He was widely known for his work in the 1980s and 1990s, including hit Wham! singles such as ""Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"" and ""Last Christmas"" and solo albums such as ""Faith"" (1987) and ""Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1"" (1990). Michael achieved seven number one singles in the UK and eight number one songs on the"
"1986. It features a performance in front of a crowd and is filmed in black and white. The Edge of Heaven ""The Edge of Heaven"" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, released on Epic Records in 1986. It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo, and was promoted in advance as Wham!'s farewell single. With the known desire of George Michael to move into a more adult market, Wham! had announced in the spring of 1986 that Michael and his musical partner Andrew Ridgeley would go their separate ways after a farewell single, album and"
"Ring (band) Ring were an English psychedelic rock band active during the 1980s. The band is notable for having helped to launch the subsequent musical careers of Robert White (Levitation, The Milk And Honey Band), Michael Tubb (also of The Milk And Honey Band) and Christian Hayes (Cardiacs, Levitation, Dark Star, Mikrokosmos). The band were noted for their diverse music ""blending all manner of riffs and noises"" and for their tendency to use circus-style face-paint. This sometimes resulted in them being accused of copying Cardiacs, a fellow musical act of the time that had emerged some years previously and were"
"Andrew Ridgeley, who joined Michael for a few songs at the encore. Again a misplaced Brazilian act suffered from bad reception, with Lobão being pelted with beer cans and being forced to cut his performance short. The third ""Rock in Rio"" festival took place in 2001. Its seven nights were headlined, respectively, by Sting, R.E.M., Guns N' Roses, 'N Sync, Iron Maiden, Neil Young and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Iron Maiden released their set as ""Rock in Rio"". Profits from the sale of the album were donated to the Clive Burr fund, helping their former drummer pay mounting medical"
"as a studio guest on the first series of the BBC 2 programme ""Fantasy Football League"" in 1994. In 2005, Ridgeley and Michael made plans to reunite as Wham for Live 8, but Ridgeley reportedly pulled out at the last minute. In 2012, Michael dismissed rumours that he and Ridgeley were set for a Wham reunion to mark the 30th anniversary of the group's first record. Michael said that there was no truth in speculation the group would reform for a one-off concert. Upon hearing of Michael's death on 25 December 2016, Ridgeley paid his respects on Twitter, saying, ""Heartbroken"
"Nicholson), reunited in 1996 and their album ""Kalipse"" was released the next year. Like most of their earlier work, it was a cult hit. Arbus was a guest musician on The Who's track ""Baba O'Riley"", playing the violin solo. He was a friend of the band's drummer Keith Moon, and was also later a member of Fiddler's Dram. East of Eden (band) East of Eden was a British progressive rock band, who had a Top 10 hit in the UK with the single, ""Jig-a-Jig"", in 1971. The track was stylistically unlike any of their other work . Although some might"
"between 1979–1984 including, Peter Black and The Reds (1980), The Blakeley Trio with Steve Stewart (Slime Men, Surry Hillbillies) and Denis Meagher, PM with Chris Bailey and Malcolm Green, Rat Tat Tat (1984) with Geoff Stapleton, Paul Abrahams, Jeff Raglus, Viola Dana and The Starlight Wranglers (1984) and Paris Green (1984). The next phase of Blakeley's career prior to him forming Peter Blakeley & The Resurrection, was a spell as featured vocalist with pioneer pop/electronic outfit The Rockmelons. Peter can be heard on their second single ""Sweat It Out"" released on the Truetone Records label in 1985. Around this time,"
"year, albeit briefly. The line up included James Fearnley on guitar and Jon Moss on drums. This line up played a final gig at London's Music Machine with The Jam in December 1980. In 1981 Jon Moss joined up with Boy George to form Culture Club. During 1981, Bradley took the band in another direction away from the traditional rock band format to incorporate Greek, Cretan and Irish Roots/Folk music. The popular Irish folk and America folk song ""Poor Paddy Works on the Railway"" had previously formed part of their early live set with Guitarist Roger Towndrow. This line up"
"8, 1994, and its popularity enabled the group to sell out larger nightclubs across Detroit. Because Bruce and Utsler made reference to the Detroit-produced soft drink Faygo in their songs, they ""figured it would be cool to have some on stage with [them]"". During a concert in 1993, Bruce threw an open bottle of Faygo at a row of concertgoers who were giving them the finger. After receiving a positive response, Bruce and Utsler have since continued to spray Faygo onto audiences. A subsequent national tour increased sales of the album, earning ""Ringmaster"" a gold certification. The group's second EP,"
"at Boy George's London mansion in 1986. The cause was reportedly heroin overdose, although no drug paraphernalia was found at the scene. Michael was 27 years old and a well-respected musician in pop music circles when he died. He was a keyboardist, guitarist and writer who had worked with Cyndi Lauper, Kool & the Gang, and Joan Jett. Rudetsky was nominated for the Emmy Award three times for his work as a comedy writer for ""The Rosie O'Donnell Show"". He was a writer for the Grammy Award shows of 1999 and 2000. Rudetsky created the opening numbers for the 1998"
"The Edge of Heaven ""The Edge of Heaven"" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, released on Epic Records in 1986. It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo, and was promoted in advance as Wham!'s farewell single. With the known desire of George Michael to move into a more adult market, Wham! had announced in the spring of 1986 that Michael and his musical partner Andrew Ridgeley would go their separate ways after a farewell single, album and concert. The album was called ""The Final"" and the concert was held in front of 72,000 fans"
"eight consecutive No. 1 studio albums in the US. In 2008, the band ranked 10th on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists chart. In 2012, the band celebrated its 50th anniversary. Keith Richards and Mick Jagger became childhood friends and classmates in 1950 in Dartford, Kent. The Jagger family moved to Wilmington, Kent, away, in 1954. In the mid-1950s, Jagger formed a garage band with his friend Dick Taylor; the group mainly played material by Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Howlin' Wolf and Bo Diddley. Jagger met Richards again on 17 October 1961 on platform two of Dartford"
"Redgum Redgum were an Australian folk and political music group formed in Adelaide in 1975 by singer-songwriter John Schumann, Michael Atkinson on guitars/vocals, Verity Truman on flute/vocals; they were later joined by Hugh McDonald on fiddle and Chris Timms on violin. All four had been students at Flinders University and together developed a strong political voice. They are best known for their protest song exploring the impact of war in the 1980s ""I Was Only 19"", which peaked at #1 on the National singles charts. The song is in the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) list of Top 30 of"
"Careless Whisper ""Careless Whisper"" is a pop ballad by English singer-songwriter George Michael and his Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley (sometimes credited to ""Wham! featuring George Michael"" in Japan, Canada and the United States). It was released on 24 July 1984, by Epic Records in the United Kingdom, Japan and other countries, and by Columbia Records in North America. The song was George Michael's first solo single, although he was still performing in Wham! at the time (the song is included on Wham!'s album ""Make It Big""). The song features a prominent saxophone riff, and has been covered by a number"
"teaching MIDI, Synthesis & Composition in Singapore Polytechnic. Hugh McDonald died of cancer on 19 November 2016; he was 62. In chronological order: ""On the Frontline"" (1990, Hoyts / Polygram) Redgum Redgum were an Australian folk and political music group formed in Adelaide in 1975 by singer-songwriter John Schumann, Michael Atkinson on guitars/vocals, Verity Truman on flute/vocals; they were later joined by Hugh McDonald on fiddle and Chris Timms on violin. All four had been students at Flinders University and together developed a strong political voice. They are best known for their protest song exploring the impact of war in"
"shown sitting and walking around the room whilst singing the song. A Different Corner ""A Different Corner"" is a song written and performed by George Michael which was released on Epic Records (Columbia Records in the US) in 1986. At the time of its release in April 1986, Michael was still a member of pop duo Wham! (the song is included on Wham!'s album ""Music from the Edge of Heaven"" only released in Japan and North America, as well as their compilation album ""The Final"", released worldwide), though he and partner Andrew Ridgeley had announced that they would split in"
"hobby of rally driving. ""Last Christmas"" was re-issued for the festive season and again made the UK Top 10, peaking at No. 6, while Michael took up offers he was starting to receive to add his voice to other artists' songs. He performed backing vocals for David Cassidy, and also for Elton John on his successful singles ""Nikita"" (UK No. 3) and ""Wrap Her Up"" (UK No. 12), on which he sang co-lead vocals. Michael was keen to create music targeted at a more sophisticated adult market rather than the duo's primarily teenage audience, and therefore, Michael and Ridgeley officially"
"slight pop and folk approach while a similar social commentary song, ""Look at Your Hands"", co-written by Michael and David Austin, produced a pop song with rock elements featuring a piano and saxophone. ""Monkey"" returns to the funk influences of some of the other songs. A remix of the song by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis brings a new jack swing approach to the original. ""Kissing a Fool"" is a jazz-influenced ballad with lyrics solemnly describing a breakup. George Michael embarked on a world tour to promote the album in February 1988, opening at Tokyo's Budokan arena, before going on"
"several appearances in New York City (notably appearing with Mel Tormé at Michael's Pub), a 1987 tour to Great Britain, a 1998 tour to Switzerland, and at festivals like the Du Maurier Jazz Festival, Moncton Jazz Festival, the Ottawa Jazz Festival, and Dick Gibson's Jazz Party in Colorado. The group has also performed in Chicago, Florida, Texas, Scandinavia, Germany, and Japan. Peter Appleyard performed as a special guest at Carnegie Hall on numerous occasions through the late 90's and onwards under the direction of Skitch Henderson and the New Yorks Pops orchestra. He regularly toured overseas from London to Switzerland"
"Michael later launched a legal action against record label Sony, citing their lack of support for this project as one of the reasons he no longer wished to work with them. The album also included tracks by Madonna, Seal, Lisa Stansfield and Sly & the Family Stone, and was released by Epic (Sony) in the UK. The album cover features artwork by Keith Haring. Red Hot + Dance Red Hot + Dance is an album produced by the Red Hot Organization, an organization dedicated to raising money and awareness to fight the onslaught of HIV/AIDS. Pop star George Michael was"